SON haploinsufficiency causes impaired pre-mRNA splicing of CAKUT genes and heterogeneous renal phenotypes.

Although genetic testing is increasingly used in clinical nephrology, a large number of patients with congenital abnormalities of the kidney and urinary tract (CAKUT) remain undiagnosed with current gene panels. Therefore, careful curation of novel genetic findings is key to improving diagnostic yields. We recently described a novel intellectual disability syndrome caused by de novo heterozygous loss-of-function mutations in the gene encoding the splicing factor SON.

De Novo Mutations in SON Disrupt RNA Splicing of Genes Essential for Brain Development and Metabolism, Causing an Intellectual-Disability Syndrome.

The overall understanding of the molecular etiologies of intellectual disability (ID) and developmental delay (DD) is increasing as next-generation sequencing technologies identify genetic variants in individuals with such disorders. However, detailed analyses conclusively confirming these variants, as well as the underlying molecular mechanisms explaining the diseases, are often lacking. Here, we report on an ID syndrome caused by de novo heterozygous loss-of-function (LoF) mutations in SON.

Array CGH as a first-tier test for neonates with congenital heart disease.

Objective: Efficient diagnosis of an underlying genetic aetiology in a patient with congenital heart disease is essential to optimising clinical care. Copy number variants are one aetiology of congenital heart disease; the majority are identifiable by targeted fluorescence in situ hybridisation or array comparative genomic hybridisation, not by classical cytogenetic analysis. This study assessed the utility of array comparative genomic hybridisation as a first-tier diagnostic test for neonates with congenital heart disease.